Raise a glass (To Dverse)

with a glass raised, DVerse I say goodbye
a wave to friends, from the year gone by
but we’ll meet again, converse, critique
share the poetry and stories of those
across the world ~ people that I’ve never
met, yes I shall greet you with a smile

I want to give my thanks, perhaps not in
poetry form, for encouragement and guidance
for kindness and support, for I am a fledging
thrown from the nest, of writing
non-fiction, not that adept with verse
SO I’m learning still, bare with me and my
lack of metaphors, for my wings still
flap against the wind as my poetry starts
to soar

I write for the love of it, as you all do I’m sure
my vocabulary perhaps at times lacking
though my style is still my own
~ AND do I wish to change the way I write
yes I must admit at times I do
my emotions and my feelings will not change
that part of me, I shall not lose

to those who have popped in to read me
I thank you from my heart
this fledging bird, with trainer wings
my poetry’s not art
but rather simply ~ simple words
that I draw from deep inside
like writers who I’ve met this year
their feelings they don’t hide

so be safe this holiday season
take a break and draw a breath
and I shall be here waiting
rested, pen at the ready
for you to challenge me

©jmtacken Dec 2013

(My 700th Post)

For OLN and the last one for the year over at The Pub http://dversepoets.com

Sometimes what starts as an ordinary day… can change

Isn’t it marvellous, when a perfectly ordinary day turns out to be something very special?

My friend  Miriam E. or (Miri) as I call her and myself have decided to create a new site. A collaboration of her brilliant artistic mind from across the seas in Germany and myself, a middle aged mum from Melbourne Australia.

We have been working together on several ‘poetry projects’ in the past and thought it would be a great time to take it one step further.
So, I humbly present our joint blog

Words…From Here To There.

Care to join us for the ride?

Rosalind Smith-Nazilli Interview

 

Rosalind  Smith-Nazilli Author of The Whore Slayer kindly asked to do an interview with me a few days ago, which was posted.

I now reciprocate her kind gesture.  Sit back, pour a wine, and I hope you enjoy, getting to know another fellow blogger on a more personal level.

You are known as The Fiction Vixen, why did you choose that Title in particular?

I wanted a title that was short and sharpish because let’s face it, my real name is a bit of a mouthful and for various reasons I did not want to drop either my family name or my married name.     I also wanted something that (sort of) rhymed with fiction.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you were born, where you live now?

Well I was born in the UK, in a place called Marlborough but I live now in a seaside village in Turkey.    I simply got the urge one day to be somewhere else so I packed a bag and left.

What do you do when you are not writing?

Not a lot.  I am always writing but I do like to garden and walk the dog.  I am not big on socializing but have to make the effort from time to time for the sake of the sanity of my husband.

Do you have a day job as well?

No I don’t, although I did do some copy writing via online sites for a while.        I have no visa to work in Turkey but I am to become a citizen of this Country at the end of the year so I will then have the necessary credentials, but I hope to avoid working outside my home. 🙂

When did you first start writing?

I have always written for as long as I can remember.      When I was about twelve my teacher said he thought I had a bit of Edgar Allen Poe in me but I still can’t see that to this day.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I write flash fiction and short stories mainly because I don’t have the concentration span or even the patience for anything longer.         Only recently have I started to dabble in erotica.

Where do you get your ideas?

I am most definitely a panster.  I usually start with a sentence I have come into my head or something I hear somewhere.    Picture prompts are a favourite of mine as well but if something doesn’t come immediately then I move on.  I don’t want to have to labour over words.  They are either there or they are not.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Yes I do, I think every writer does, but never at the start of something.  It’s usually half way in when I can’t decide which way to take a story.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I did try once to start with an outline but it’s not for me.  I have to write what comes as it comes, and I write for me firstly and foremost.     Occasionally someone may say that they don’t understand or get what a story was about or where it was going but as long as I know myself, I am satisfied.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I have always loved Sidney Sheldon but to be honest there are so many spectacular works of fiction out there that it is hard to choose.      I love mystery thrillers and anything with forensic science.

Is there anything in your stories based on real life experiences or is it purely all imagination?

No it’s all imagination.  My life has nothing in it that would interest anyone.

What project/a are you working on now?

I have THE WHORE SLAYER  almost ready to be published but I am still not one hundred percent happy with it so have gone back to do a little more editing.    There is also a collection of flash fiction that needs to be formatted and edited.      Several WIP’s are sitting on the back burner as well.

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

Just keep writing.  Find your voice, try different genre and do not give up.

What’s the nicest thing someone has said about your writing?

I like it when someone says “Oh, I wasn’t expecting that.”   From time to time I am told that my flash fiction has the potential to be developed into something longer and the reader has hated that it ended where it did.

What’s the worst thing?

Someone once said that I wrote like a nine year old and that my grammar was appalling (I already knew that, the grammar bit) but you can’t please all of the people all of the time can you?

How do you find the blogging-world in general and any tips you would care to share?

I think some bloggers have a tendency to go mad and flood the world with posts to their blogs.  In my opinion two or three quality pieces in a week is enough.   There are many also who do not appreciate that people are not going to support you if you don’t support them back.    It’s important to visit blogs that you wouldn’t normally choose to, say hello, leave a comment or a compliment.         The only way forward with blogging is interaction.

Dark or white chocolate?

Chocolate?  Did someone mention chocolate?  Any and all although the quality of it out here is not that great and I do miss some of my old favourites.

Dogs or cats?

We were always a cat family until recently when our little bundle of joy, puppy I hasten to add, arrived.

There is a huge problem with stray/street animals in this Country and we have taken in many a kitten only to have them die from something inherited due to inter family breeding.  The same has happened with a couple of puppies which is why we went the breeder route with Ayda.

Ayda

It was something that I was very much against because there are so many needy animals on the streets but for me at least, the emotion evoked when a pet dies is just too much and I am really not that strong a person.

BLOG

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Thanks so much for this Jenny.  It really is appreciated more than you know.

No, I thank you Rosalind,  for allowing my readers to get to know you.  You may now go and finish your gardening or play with Adya 🙂

Blog Etiquette- The 10 Commandments from the reader and the writer’s prospective – 400th Post

with the words of Pink …”Who Knew”

Indeed who would have ever thought that I would reach this, that @ the 4th April, 2013 I would have 262 followers in the space of under a year and blah blah visits (half of them probably lost with my obscure tags). I feel I have my feet firmly planted on Mt Sinai about to give the 10 commandments.

Perhaps I shall (though a little longer than Moses delivered)

1. Always be grateful and acknowledge those that follow you. They have taken their time to ‘look into’ your posts and have decided that they like and are interested in what you have to offer. Even if it is not immediate – take the time to read who you follow, we are human, we all like a pat on the back or acknowledgment for what we do. Do not be so self-centered to think that your post is the only one that matters or brag endlessly about the amount you have accumulated. .. *yawn*. Be at least genuine and sincere. Likewise if you are following someone and you have commented time after time and they do not visit you, or acknowledge your existence, then it is up to you whether to ‘pull the pin’ for this in a way is a two way street i.e. Reciprocate.

2. Always when possible, leave a comment to what they have written, for they have spent their time, their energy and their love in writing to be read by YOU. To ignore is rude, so show them that you care. Get to really know these people whenever possible, not in a ‘stalking way‘, but to show that you are interested not only in their writing but them as a human being, you have some affinity with them through their words. How nice would it be to develop a friendship albeit virtual?

3. Always be sincere in your comments, too many, at times have a line that is continually used and it is noticed from one post to another. If you feel you cannot really comment on what the post means to you, then simply hit the like button, that will suffice and in fact, to the writer is better than seeing the ‘same old line’, as it leaves us with the question of “Did they actually read my words”?. This applies to those that hit the like button within 1 second of you hitting the publish button…

4. Always remember that at times, people do not want or indeed have the time to read terribly long posts. I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion, it is difficult to reign in your thoughts, but perhaps a better idea (note to self) is to break it down into one or two. Doing this will also hopefully, keep your reader interested and want to come back for more. This is not greed for ‘hits’, this is simply providing a service of not boring your followers so much that they would inevitably ‘un-follow’ you.

5. Always be kind and considerate in your comments, this forum does not need vicious or vindictive remarks. Critique is justified in a caring manner, do not be obnoxious when pointing this out. Corrections to grammar and spelling are warranted. I have been ‘pulled up’ a few times and I am thankful to those that that have noticed an error and have advised me of such, it only improves my writing.

6. Always be aware that your readers/followers or newcomers have read you for a reason, be exhilarated that they have decided to follow you because of what you have written. In my case some follow because they like Haiku, others for prose, others simply for me just rambling about my life and being a mum. Each follower so vastly different from another. What intrigues or interests one, will not necessarily intrigue another and that is OK.

7. Always remember there is a market for everybody that runs a ‘blog’, people with different interests, different values, different stories to tell, each of us, unique, each of us bringing an idea, a thought, guidance or humour that we wish to share with the world. Do not feel ashamed that you have followers that you don’t follow…for each of us are attracted to different writers. I have followers that I don’t follow, but time allowing, I will pop in now and then to read what they are doing.

8. Always write from your heart, about your passions, your knowledge, your loves. Encourage those that feel they cannot write poetry to do so, or write from the ‘dark side’ or the melancholy or try a Haiku!  We all learn from one another, we therefore should appreciate those that can step ‘outside the box’ from their ‘normal’ writing.

9. Always, no matter what genre you choose, maintain your sense of decency, your individuality and your talent, do not be persuaded to follow what others do because it may be popular. Don’t jump on the band wagon, simply because you see that they have a ‘gazillion’ followers. You are what you are, you write because you have your own story to tell.

10. ALWAYS be yourself, do not write under pretence, write what you love, feel secure in that those that follow are genuinely interested in what you have written and show them the respect that they deserve. Yes, it is a time consuming but manageable process to follow, to read, to comment, to then write your own work. Comments do not have to be done within a second of posting (refer to commandment 3).  I have followers who are now going back through the archives to read older posts. That to me is reassuring, comforting and pleasing. Knowing that they are taking the time to do so. Remember this is NOT a competition, though some of us enter into challenges, we are not doing this to win the race of the best blog or to be ‘Freshly Pressed’. I am just comfy being myself Wrinkled and all, thank you very much.

So now I remind myself of # 4 and close – I thank you for reading and following me.  Without wanting to make any one violently ill – YOU ARE ALL PRECIOUS TO ME.

Reblogging – welcomed and appreciated…spread the love 🙂

*If I have contradicted myself in the aforementioned Commandments –  you can blame the demon drink. 😦

Picture it and Write – I am blind but still I see

From Picture it & Write gallery     the pic this week is stunning! 

This week I shall continue with the original theme with my own version from a post I wrote some time back ( you shall find in Poetry and Prose) ‎which I have altered slightly.  I have used a basic rhyming pattern. I hope it is worthy. My entry is in bold black.

My fingertips reflect the world back to me. What I cannot see, I feel, smell, taste, and hear. I feel shadows as I reach for the sun and smell the coming weather on the wind. I’ve never felt deprived of sight even though I’m blind, but sometimes my fingers have a mind of their own. At first, I felt nothing. There would be periods of my day missing; people actually accused me of drawing. At first I didn’t believe them, now I’m awake when I draw. Despite feeling shoved to the back while something else controls my movement, there’s a wave of serenity that keeps me calm. Am I crazy, or just weak? Everyone else has their magic under control.

I hold tulips as they start to unfold, hold the wedding ring and imagine what’s gold.
lift my face to the clouds that I’m told drift through the sky,  sadly miss the expressions of those that walk by
touch the leaves that curl brittle on trees, listen to buzzing from the hive made from bees

Fingers embrace spider webs lacy and glossy, hear as a mother shouts, finger pointed and bossy
imagine the stars on warm summer nights, though never to witness them sit in the sky
jump in the crest of the waves at the beach, set my goals high for things I can reach

Cannot see faces of those that smile wide, or the glow and the love on the face of a bride
can hug all the animals four legged or two, won’t see the lovers face that bids me adieu
painting butterfly wings coloured and frail, touch my words that are penned in braille

Visualise the flight of a woodland hawk, or the joy I would feel to see my child walk
I can feel shiny, the dull, old and the new, wet my fingers on blades in first morning dew
I grasp hold of tree trunks standing tall in the forests, run my fingers across sculptures and paintings of artists

I wish to see happiness in the faces of lovers, or stare into eyes of lonely street beggars
love I would feel sighting a newly born babe, I cannot have this, there is no escape
let me see those who share wealth with the poor, show me the sadness of those who yearn more

I feel the sunshine on a hot summers day, I feel the winter snow, slowly drifting away
I see things that the sighted do not see, is it a gift or simply just me…

Friday Fictioneers My dad and I

Genre: Literary Fiction Word Count: 100 Brought to us by FRIDAY FICTIONEERS

The photo prompt this week comes courtesy of Jennifer Pendegast.

His head shook slightly, his trembling hands reaching out to hold mine.

They stilled.

“I know I don’t have that long, my body grows weaker by the day, you have seen me struggle even to walk”.

“I remember running in the snow, or up flights of stairs, a young boy then, when I could hold a knife and fork without shaking when I ate, now ..I’m too embarrassed to eat in public”.

“You are my only daughter, my ginger, when I go, you will look after mum…promise me?”

I cry.

“Pop…with all the love in my heart…I promise you”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Friday Fictioneers and for my father who calls me ‘Ginger’ though I am not a red-head – the most amazing man in this world.

Excuse the completely different way I looked at the ‘Stairs’.  I immediately thought of how my father is battling to walk right now and the staircase was a reminder to me of his struggles.

Join me Fellow Bloggers + an Aussie Accent.

Fellow Bloggers

I stand sit before you today in admiration of blogging.

Are we united as one?
(murmurs amongst the flock)

To spread the word good people.
(hallelujah brother)

The words of possibly just crap poetry, prose, life-style, photographs, history, relationships, humour, sadness, recipes, children, holidays, happy snaps, music, art, hate, love, our marriage, our lack of marriage and chocolate?

My fellow brethren Blogg-er-ren today let it be known that we are a community that have the need to share our desires  stories. We are bound together by words upon a page. We shall not succumb to our everyday existence any longer!

Let’s almost wet our pants be excited for another follower that has deemed us deserving to follow. Let our heart beats quicken when our visitor numbers soar.

(hallelujah)

Let us take the time to pass comment, to comment on comments, to read, to in fact dear blogg-er-rens to be involved with our fellow blogg-er-rens and be in awe of the talent we witness here today and everyday.

This is my world, this is YOUR world, let us communicate, let us rejoice, let us sing the praises of WP (do I need a straw) for allowing us to come together, be united as one for the sole purpose of spilling our guts out, wondering if anyone will give a damn, gawd not other post from him/her of sharing our stories!

For we are all individuals with different stories to tell, different lives, that have shaped us and my dear blogg-er-ren as you all know we do so love to write.

Let us not be obsessed with our own talent, let us brag be humbled by those that have found us worthy and of whom we find worthy!

Let me hear you rejoice, I say stand up blogg-er-ren let me hear you loud, the written word is before us!
(hallelujah)

Hold hands with the one next to you or in this case your mouse, thank the almighty WP for granting us, for saving us from an existence of boredom, housework, going for Sunday drives, tending to the children, cooking, cutting our toe-nails, shopping, taxi-ing the youngsters around and work.

No longer are we slaves to the every day to day reality that WAS our lives, for this has consumed us blogg-er-ren, taken us on a different pathway, the pathway we knew as hell I’m bored  I think I have talent to be shared with the world and the world wants to hear it!!

Now for a very special treat or perhaps not my fellow blogg-er-ens.. some of you wanted to hear the Great Aussie Accent….